4 Commits
Author SHA1 Message Date
wassname 9ffbeff014 Merge dev4 into main 2026-09-07 14:36:01 +08:00
wassname (Michael J Clark) bdb70ba7b1 Refactor README to streamline content and sections
Removed redundant descriptions and clarified sections in the README.
2026-08-30 17:55:12 +08:00
wassname (Michael J Clark) 1fb188e923 Update README.md 2026-08-30 17:53:45 +08:00
wassname (Michael J Clark) 4112134bfd Enhance README with debugging quotes and illustrations
Added quotes and illustrations about debugging mindset to README.
2026-08-30 17:51:43 +08:00
2 changed files with 9 additions and 9 deletions
+5 -5
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@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ When you're stuck after a diagnostic cycle or two, the generalization of this ad
> What I'm advocating for here is not a blind faith in the buginess of your code, but for dramatically raising the threshold at which you start thinking 'OK, I think this is correct.'[^jones]
A bug can also hide, because most ML models have multiple adaptive parts:
A bug can also hide, because most ML models have multiple adaptive parts:
> "If one part is broken, the other parts can adapt and still achieve roughly acceptable performance" [^goodfellow],
and it may not show in the output at all.
@@ -356,8 +356,8 @@ instead.
From William Falcon's attendee notes on Schulman's talk, so a secondary source rather than
Schulman's own text[^deeprlhacks]:
> 4. Think your algorithm is working but you're actually seeing random noise.
> - Example: Graph of 7 tasks with 3 algorithms and looks like 1 algorithm might be doing best on all problems, but turns out they're all the same algorithm with DIFFERENT random seeds.
> 4. Think your algorithm is working but you're actually seeing random noise.
> - Example: Graph of 7 tasks with 3 algorithms and looks like 1 algorithm might be doing best on all problems, but turns out they're all the same algorithm with DIFFERENT random seeds.
Nanda on why no internal warning fires:
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ reports his two real bugs on that environment were a terminal-flag masking error
broadcast, neither of which any of these can reach[^reddit-rl]:
> Things I've tried (but maybe not systematically enough):
>
>
> * Different initial LRs
> * Different optimizers
> * Different number of hidden layers/units
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ wanted (the "demon-strated" break is an OCR artifact in the cached copy):
notes[^deeprlhacks]:
> 2. Make sure observations usable:
> - See if YOU could control the system by using the same observations you give the agent.
> - See if YOU could control the system by using the same observations you give the agent.
> - Example: Look at preprocessed images yourself to make sure you don't remove necessary details or hinder the algorithm in a certain way.
For LLM work, the data you have to read is the tokenized data:
+4 -4
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@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ If either mode matters most to you, this cache needs a new source, not more mini
- failure modes: 1
- epistemic context: secondary source, attendee notes on Schulman's talk rather than Schulman's own text; the primary slide deck is cached separately as joschu_nuts_and_bolts.md.
> 4. Think your algorithm is working but you're actually seeing random noise.
> - Example: Graph of 7 tasks with 3 algorithms and looks like 1 algorithm might be doing best on all problems, but turns out they're all the same algorithm with DIFFERENT random seeds.
> 4. Think your algorithm is working but you're actually seeing random noise.
> - Example: Graph of 7 tasks with 3 algorithms and looks like 1 algorithm might be doing best on all problems, but turns out they're all the same algorithm with DIFFERENT random seeds.
Why it lands: a confident cross-task ranking read off three copies of one algorithm. It is the shortest demonstration that a conclusion can feel fully supported by a plot and be supported by nothing.
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ Why it lands: sweeping the legible knobs is brute-force search wearing a lab coa
- epistemic context: LOW CREDIBILITY. Anonymous reddit self-report from a self-described non-expert. Its value is as a specimen of the failure mode, not as advice, and it should not be quoted as authority.
> Things I've tried (but maybe not systematically enough):
>
>
> * Different initial LRs
> * Different optimizers
> * Different number of hidden layers/units
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ Why it lands: a healthy-looking curve produced by a swimmer curling up and flail
- epistemic context: secondary attendee notes; the matching primary slide is "Atari: can you see game features in downsampled image?" in the cached joschu_nuts_and_bolts.md.
> 2. Make sure observations usable:
> - See if YOU could control the system by using the same observations you give the agent.
> - See if YOU could control the system by using the same observations you give the agent.
> - Example: Look at preprocessed images yourself to make sure you don't remove necessary details or hinder the algorithm in a certain way.
Why it lands: turns "read the data" into a pass/fail test that takes a minute. If you cannot do the task from the model's inputs, no hyperparameter will save it.